By Andrew Webster
June 15, 2017
Fine Art Connoisseur
Hieronymus Bosch, “The Temptation of St. Anthony,” circa 1500-1510, oil on panel, 15 3/16 x 9 7/8 inches, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Only five works of art attributed to Hieronymus Bosch exist in the United States, which is why June 30 is a significant date for a particular renowned institution.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, will soon display a stunning painting of “The Temptation of St. Anthony” by Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch. Opening June 30, the public exhibition of the painting will be its first since 2003. Via the museum’s press materials, “The ‘Temptation of St. Anthony’ returns to the Nelson-Atkins after being lent in early 2016 to the Het Noordbrabants Museum in The Netherlands for the largest ever Bosch retrospective to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his death. The Bosch Research and Conservation Project authenticated the painting in 2015 after extensive testing, which was chronicled in a recent documentary by Pieter van Huystee about Bosch’s quincentennial exhibition in his hometown.
Albrecht Bouts, “Christ Crowned with Thorns,” circa 1490-1495, oil on panel, 11 7/16 x 11 3/8 inches
“‘The Temptation of St. Anthony’ will be shown alongside ‘Christ Crowned with Thorns,’ an autograph painting by Bosch’s contemporary Albrecht Bouts, which also makes its museum debut since its respective authentication. Both works will be presented in a special exhibition that will focus on the scholarly and scientific techniques used to determine the attribution of the paintings.”